The business behind the show

After the coffee. Before trying to figure out how Twitter will make money.

Going for the cable gold. The United States Olympic Committee is partnering with cable giant Comcast Corp. to a launch a new Olympic-themed network. The channel will likely debut sometime after the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. The Los Angeles Times.

Ad recession hitting social networks. Advertising on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook is going to decline in 2009, says a new study from research firm eMarketer. The firm says ad spending in the U.S. will drop 3% to $1.1 billion. That prediction is a sharp reduction from last December when the firm anticipated growth in that arena of more than 10%. The Wall Street Journal.

NBC selling cable. While its broadcast upfront is still in limbo, NBC Universal is briskly selling inventory in its cable networks including USA and Bravo, reports Advertising Age.

TiVo and Best Buy align. TiVo is going to create a special
version of its recorder specifically for retailer Best Buy that will
allow the chain to advertise to TiVo subscribers. Best Buy will also
promote TiVo gear in its 1100 stores, according to The New York Times.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: A closer look at Google's plans to challenge Microsoft. John Horn on the slowdown of the summer movie season.